Hi all, i hope this thread is ok to post. *Edit to add, my mother, father and sister all have 1.6  focuses, having previously having rs2000's and good mate has a mk2 focus RS, so im no stranger to fast and not so fast fords.*

Im located in Ireland so the car market is far smaller and more expensive than in the UK. Insurance is an unregulated mess so modified cars are basically uninsurable too. My car has adaptive suspension, ZF8, 5 door but standard ICE and as mentioned that ***** open diff.

I was intending on putting a diff in the BMW and squeezing some extra ponies out of her but theyre holding great value here currently so im moving away from that idea as a result of that.

Im am currently looking for a mk3 Focus RS, i think visually theyre stunning, i would be trying to get a nitrous blue one. The only drawbacks are, apparent engine reliability (is this still an issue), fact its a manual, boot space for the kids buggy and that ive never driven one. This whole covid sh*tshow is making that very difficult to remedy.

So my main question is, has anyone previously owned a M135i or similar and made the jump to the RS and has a direct comparison of the two cars? 

Have only driven the RS myself, but I know someone who has an M140i and drove our RS. He says the ability to put maximum power to the road in all weathers and conditions was a huge plus, though obviously you lose the pure shove of that lovely 6 cylinder and the noise. I think the RS is dynamically better, but power delivery is much less exciting and the interior will be a massive step down! Engine reliability shouldn’t be a worry anymore, though a 2017 on model will be your best bet. You get the much better Sync 3 with CarPlay and Android Auto too. If you can afford a blue or red edition, you get a Quaife diff too. HTH 😃. We loved our RS, was a sad day when we sold it.

Thanks for the reply, she was a beauty. Yeah i believe they implemented the gasket fix in mid 2017 too, so i would day that is the one to go for alright.

On 11/18/2020 at 12:17 PM, IrishDave said:

Thanks for the reply, she was a beauty. Yeah i believe they implemented the gasket fix in mid 2017 too, so i would day that is the one to go for alright.

Plus the engines that had the incorrect head gasket fitted should all have been recalled and fixed free of charge (in the UK at least), I assume you guys in Ireland have something similar to the VOSA web site where you can check for outstanding recalls via the vehicle reg?